A Poetry Review of The Ceramic Lesson by Christopher Rose

The Ceramic Lesson by Christopher Rose reads as a methodical autopsy of this relationship to his mother. The poem is controlled, lyrical and subversive to the expected idolization one might have for their mother - a stark reminder of generational difference, and the humanity that is often withheld for parents and family.

Rose manages to highlight feelings of contempt, emptiness in their relationship with their mother, through simplistic metaphor, and figurative language. Ceramic is used as a metaphor, to contrast its breakable nature with that of the fragility of human life. The reader feels a sense of empathy for the speaker with lines like, ‘She tells me my friends are foolish/for dying in a car crash / hopes I've learned / people break too easily’, demonstrating a conflicted sense of feeling - of derision for their mother’s hardened opinions, and a sense of understanding for her experience of the world. This last line in the stanza, reads as a realisation for both the speaker and their mother.

Rose emulates their mother's character – a stark, clear and yet slightly detached voice. This view, as a young person, observing a parent as hard - as wishing, and wanting more from a parent is demonstrated well - describing the way his mother ‘sweeps up the remnants / with a tambo broom’ with an ‘uncharacteristic / softness for a shattered sculpture of porcelain.’

Rose shows a clear control of language, and is tactful in directing their audience towards specific feelings and truths. However, there is room for a greater depth of narrative, and understanding of vision- what is their agenda, their rhetoric, rather than, their perception on their mother’s actions. There is space perhaps for Rose to move towards a deeper force within this poem, which lives in the generational, cultural and tenuous strains between them and their mother’s character.

This review was written by Saaro, Alex and Indah. Find their blogs in my side bar!